Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu has reflected on Trabzonspor’s disappointing 1-0 defeat to Freiburg in the UEFA Conference League, insisting that his team produced a good performance despite failing to take their opportunities, Footynaija.com reports.
The Turkish Super Lig side suffered their first defeat in the competition’s league phase on Thursday night after Lukas Kubler scored the only goal of the encounter in the 14th minute.
Trabzonspor struggled to recover from the early setback despite enjoying more possession and creating several opportunities against their German opponents.
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Reflecting on the team’s performance, Onuachu acknowledged Freiburg’s quality while insisting that Trabzonspor had done enough to trouble their opponents.
“Even though we lost, I can say that we actually played a good match today, we had a good game. Because we had a tough opponent. Despite that, we had many chances but couldn’t capitalize on them,” he said, as quoted by Turkgun.
The Nigerian striker also stressed that his personal desire to find the back of the net would always come second to the team’s overall success.
Although scoring remains an important part of his responsibilities as a forward, Onuachu explained that contributing to victories and helping Trabzonspor maintain their positive footballing approach mattered more to him.
“Of course, as a striker, I want to score goals, but what’s important here is that the team wins and plays good football, which is what they are doing.
“When the team wins, there’s really not much of a problem, but of course, when the opportunity arises, I want to score. As long as the team is doing well, I want to contribute to the team.”
The defeat ended Trabzonspor manager Thomas Reis‘ seven-match winning run and left the Turkish side with six points from their opening three Conference League fixtures.
They currently occupy 12th position in the league-phase standings, with their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the round of 16 still firmly within reach.
